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A review by bittennailbooks
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
“Yes, apocalypse. We've had that over and over. But we always survived. We're still here. And we'll still be here, even if the power and the radios don't come back on and we never see any white people again.”
If you are a fan of "The Only Good Indians" by Stephen Graham Jones, here is your next read. For being from 2018, Rice certainly predicts the future of post-pandemic ideologies, mass panic, and bleak survival. A devastating read about a power outage in a remote reserve and the surrounding area. This book does an incredible job about discussing the impacts of racism, residential schools, community, and trauma within the stories context of survival.
Thumbs up: One thing I've been sitting with since finishing this surprisingly short book is Rice's incredible way of not demonizing those who have been deeply impacted or removed from traditional ways of knowing. That there were serious and ongoing impacts of colonization and fleshes out the reasons that the conditions and plot (without spoiling it) resulted in how they did in the novel. The discussions of how ripping one from one's culture creates a reliance on oppressive structures that lead to the novels incredible conclusion.
Thumbs down: If you're looking for romantic prose, you will not find it here. The writing is very straight forward and overtly descriptive. However, that's certainly not a turn of for me with this novel.
Was it a nail biter? Absolutely, I devoured this book in one sitting and think it absolutely deserves space on your shelf at home.
If you are a fan of "The Only Good Indians" by Stephen Graham Jones, here is your next read. For being from 2018, Rice certainly predicts the future of post-pandemic ideologies, mass panic, and bleak survival. A devastating read about a power outage in a remote reserve and the surrounding area. This book does an incredible job about discussing the impacts of racism, residential schools, community, and trauma within the stories context of survival.
Thumbs up: One thing I've been sitting with since finishing this surprisingly short book is Rice's incredible way of not demonizing those who have been deeply impacted or removed from traditional ways of knowing. That there were serious and ongoing impacts of colonization and fleshes out the reasons that the conditions and plot (without spoiling it) resulted in how they did in the novel. The discussions of how ripping one from one's culture creates a reliance on oppressive structures that lead to the novels incredible conclusion.
Thumbs down: If you're looking for romantic prose, you will not find it here. The writing is very straight forward and overtly descriptive. However, that's certainly not a turn of for me with this novel.
Was it a nail biter? Absolutely, I devoured this book in one sitting and think it absolutely deserves space on your shelf at home.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Spoiler content warning: Cannibalism